Conservative Party candidate Andrew Lister
is hoping to break the Liberal Party's 11-year
hold in Ottawa-Orléans when Ontarians
head to the polls on June 12. Fred Sherwin
Photo

It's
been 11 years and three elections since a Conservative last
represented Ottawa-Orléans in the Ontario legislature.

Andrew
Lister is hoping to break that streak. The Cumberland
lawyer has been preparing for the recently called provincial
election ever since he narrowly lost to Liberal incumbent
Phil McNeely in 2012.

Despite
entering the race as a relative unkonwn at the 11th hour,
Lister managed to capture 40 per cent of the vote compared
to 46 per cent for McNeely. More importantly he improved
the Conservative result by six per cent from the previous
election in 2007.

It
was an encouraging outcome for Lister who already had
his sights set on the next election, even though no one
knew when the next election would be held.

Since
securing the local nomination on May 22, 2012, Lister
has been making the rounds and putting in the time to
gain a better understanding of the riding, its residents
and the issues that people care about the most such as
the escalating cost of hydro, the lack of an adequate
health care facility in the riding, and the need to improve
Hwy. 174.

On
the hydro issue, Lister is quick to repeat the Conservative
promise to scrap the Green Energy Act along with the expensive
subsidies for solar power and wind turbines. A Conservative
government would also seek private investment in Hydro
One and Ontario Power Generation and use the proceeds
to pay down the debt both corporations have been carrying,
rather than force ratepayers to continue to pay for it.

They
would also slash the number of individuals making more
than $100,000 a year in the energy sector, potential saving
hundreds of millions of dollars.

Lastly,,
Lister says the Conservatives would be open to purchasing
hydro from Quebec which can produce it cheaper than Ontario.

"We
need to get back to focusing on providing cost effective
electricity to Ontarians There's no logical reason why
we shouldn't be buying electricity from Quebec if it's
cheaper than producing it ourselves," says Lister.

In
terms of local issues, Lister says the Conervatives are
committed to uploading Hwy. 174 from the city which would
allow them to properly maintain it.

"If
we are elected we will upload the 174 and take the responsibility
for it from the City of Ottawa, make into one of those
400 series highways, or akin to it, so the province can
then fix it with its own money," says Lister.

The
province has already committed $5 million to carry out
an environmental assessment on widening the highway from
Jeanne d'Arc Blvd. to Trim Road and further east to Rockland.

Another
issue that local residents are concerned about is the
need for expanded health care facilities in the east end.
The Liberal government has been promising to build a health
hub in Orléans since 2009. The proposed site is
on Mer Bleue Road on land purchased from the Taggart Corporation
by the Montfort Hospital for $4.3 million.

The
project has suffered numerous delays in the planning and
design process, and while the Liberal goverment made a
commitment to spend $60 million on the health hub in 2011,
it has yet to be identified in the three provincial budgets
since then.

"The
people in Ottawa-Orléans frankly were lied to.
They were led to believe that this thing was properly
conceived and ready to go and it was financed. Well, you
know it was none of the above," says Lister.

"There's
a crying need for greater urgent health care locally,
but the Liberals have no plan to do it. My position is
I don't make promises that I don't know for certain I
can keep. I think that would be irresponsible."

If
elected, Lister says he will meet with the various stakeholders,
take the best of their ideas and come up with a plan.

"I
won't make promises I can't keep, but what I will tell
you is the need is there and I hope to be able to bring
it to fruition," says Lister.

Beyond
the borders of Ottawa-Orléans, the Conservatives
have made some pretty bold promises including a pledge
to create one million jobs over the next eight years.
Before Ontarians will see any long term gain, however,
they will have to endure some short term pain.

A
Conservative government would cut 100,000 public sector
jobs, and freeze public sector wages. They would also
eliminate the 30 per cent tuition grant brought in by
the Liberal government in 2011 for college and university
students.and merge Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability
Support Program.

The
next number of years are not going to be easy," Conservative
leader Tim Hudak recently told reporters in Toronto. "Whenever
youre in a hole when it comes to jobs or debt, its
going to be tough slogging. But the longer you postpone
that, the deeper the hole gets, the tougher that job is.